McEwen Mining targets high-grade gold at Black Fox

McEwen Mining Inc. [MUX-TSX, NYSE] has released impressive results from the Whiskey Jack target in the Grey Fox area of its Black Fox Complex near Timmins, Ontario.

“New intersections at Whiskey Jack have confirmed high-grade gold mineralization over significant true widths, including 53 g/t gold over 6.7 metres,” said McEwen Senior Vice-President, Exploration, Sylvain Guerard in a press release on February 5, 2020. “This intersection is open and offers good potential for the discovery of a new high-grade deposit that could contribute to the growth of our existing resource at Grey Fox,” he said.

McEwen shares rallied on the news, jumping from $1.41 on February 4, 2020, to $1.63 on February 6, 2020. After giving back some of those gains, the shares eased 6.7% or 11 cents to $1.52 on Friday. McEwen shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $1.36 and $2.84.

The Black Fox Complex is located along a 7-km section of the fabled Destor Porcupine Fault, a geological formation, also known as the Golden Highway, which hosts many world class gold deposits.

The Black Fox Mine is a key component of the complex, which also includes the Black Fox-Stock mill, and the nearby Froome and Grey Fox deposits. The complex is estimated to contain an Indicated Resource of 1.34 million ounces of gold in four deposits (Black Fox, Froome, Tamarack and Grey Fox) of which Tamarack is the largest. Located about 500 metres east of main production ramp, it hosts 127,000 ounces of grade 5.08 g/t gold equivalent.

The open pit and underground operations at the Black Fox Mine have produced 835,000 ounces of gold to date. In the nine-months ended September 30, 2019, Black Fox produced 35,721 gold equivalent ounces in 2019, including 9,887 ounces in the fourth quarter. The company’s total consolidated production in 2019 was 134,316 ounces of gold, 3.36 million ounces of silver, or 174,420 gold equivalent ounces.

The company has said the main objectives for exploration at Black Fox are to extend mineralization around known deposits and to test new targets close to the mine and mill for potential contributions to near-term gold production.

In 2019, the company planned to complete 20,000 metres of underground exploration drilling and 125,000 metres of surface drilling.

The Whiskey Jack target is located on the northern extension of the Grey Fox mineralized system, where the contact between sedimentary and volcanic units changes orientation from a steep dip to the east and a moderate dip to the southwest.

Mineralization at Whiskey Jack is known to have complex geometry, but recent drilling has better defined important geologic controls.

Gold intersections within the Whiskey Jack structure extend 200 metres along strike and have been intersected from near surface to a vertical depth of approximately 400 metres. Drill results suggest the gold mineralization may be hosted in at least two sub-parallel structures, space approximately 11 metres apart, containing mineralized veins and breccias, with true thickness ranging from approximately 2.0 to 6.0 metres.

McEwen said the mineralized structure remains open and offers potential for expansion.